After reinvigorating his program years earlier and returning it to national prominence, the Texas coach appears to have plateaued. The track record of his Longhorns is envied by the vast majority of his competition, but he seems no closer to a national championship than he was three years ago.

His recruiting skills are unquestioned. His X-and-O expertise, however, is widely maligned, and the way his teams have underachieved with first-round draft talent hasn't helped. Now, after this most recent postseason debacle, the sentiment for change among the reactionary message-board fringe is starting to seep into the mainstream.

Six years ago, the UT football program found itself at a turning point not unlike the one Barnes and his basketball team faces now. Back then, Brown had to regroup from a season marred by a high-profile humiliation (a 65-13 loss to Oklahoma) and a finish that seemed to confirm all doubts about the Longhorns toughness (a 28-20 loss to Washington State in the Holiday Bowl).

Today, Barnes is picking up the pieces from his own implosion. After starting last season 17-0, his Longhorns self-destructed almost as badly as Brown's teams used to do against the Sooners. They lost 10 of their last 17 games, culminating with a first-round NCAA tournament exit in which they blew an eight-point overtime lead against Wake Forest.

Due in part to the high standards Brown and Barnes set at UT, the criticism was inevitable. In reality, though, Barnes is in no danger of losing his job, just as Brown wasn't in jeopardy of losing his in 2004. Barnes has taken the Longhorns to 12 consecutive NCAA tournaments, five Sweet 16s and a Final Four, and he'll coach at UT as long as he wants.

But like with Brown in 2004, the threat of a backslide looms. Barnes continues to recruit well, having signed McDonald's All-American forward Tristan Thompson for next season while closing in on another McDonald's All-American, point guard Cory Joseph. But the Longhorns will be much better off with another season of Bradley, the 6-foot-2 guard who officially declared for the NBA draft Thursday.

In a statement released by UT, Bradley said he will not hire an agent. If he withdraws his name from the draft by May 8, he can return to UT without losing eligibility.

“I will continue to go to class and complete the spring semester here at Texas,” said Bradley, who is considered by scouts to be a possible first-round pick. “I will schedule workouts with different NBA teams over the next month around my class schedule.”

Neither Bradley nor the Longhorns have much momentum in their favor at the moment. But then again, neither did Vince Young and the football team six years ago. Then, Young showed how much a player can improve in his second college season, and the talent around him got better, and within two years, Brown had his long-awaited championship.